LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With the conclusion of the PGA Championship, the nine players who have clinched spots on the 12-man Ryder Cup team that will take on Europe on Sept. 26-28 at Gleneagles in Scotland was finalized Sunday.

The biggest mover on the points list was Phil Mickelson, whose runner-up finish elevated him from outside the top nine to fifth on the list. The player who fell the most was Jason Dufner, the defending PGA champion who was forced to withdraw this week with a neck injury. Dufner fell out of the top nine to No. 10 and will now need captain Tom Watson to select him as one of his three wild-card picks, which will be announced Sept. 2.

The nine who are locks include Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Jimmy Walker, Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, who withdrew from the PGA with back issues, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Zach Johnson.

Watson, who is scheduled to conduct a press conference Monday morning to discuss the nine players on the team, said he has not ruled out picking Tiger Woods as one of his three captain’s picks even though Woods missed the cut this week and is not qualified to play in the month-long FedEx Cup playoffs leading into the Ryder Cup.

Henrik Stenson is making a strong case as the best player never to win a major. His tie for third at the PGA Championship was his ninth career top-10 finish in a major without winning one. Only Lee Westwood with 12 has more among active players. Stenson has five top-4 results in the eight majors he’s played since 2010.

Afterward, Stenson, who shot 30 on his front nine to get a share of the lead a couple of times, said he’s “not worried’’ about never winning a major, saying, “I’ll get my chances. I gave it my best. I was four shots [back] when we started. It would have taken a back nine similar to my front nine to pull it off. I just didn’t have it. I had one-half of it, not two.’’

Asked to compare winner Rory McIlroy with Woods in his prime, Stenson said, “If he’s not the same, he’s not far behind. If I told you that if he were to win at least one major in the next five or seven years every year, you wouldn’t be surprised, would you? He’s got the opportunity to do that. It’s up to him and how hard we can try to make it not happen.’’

Among the players who made a late charge up the leaderboard Sunday was Jim Furyk, who shot 66 to finish in a tie for fifth. It was bittersweet, though, because Furyk fell from contention with the 72 he shot Saturday.

“That 1-over round ended up biting me,’’ he said.

Another early run came from 44-year-old Ernie Els, who shot a 6-under-par 65 to finish at 11-under par. Els was 5-under on the front nine, but his rally stalled on the back as he gained only one more shot.

“I had it going unbelievably,’’ Els said. “I felt like I could birdie every hole. I just had that momentum going. Not birdieing 7, and then missing that 5-‑footer on 8 hurt a little bit. I tried to hang in there on the back nine. It could have been something real special. I’m still quite pleased with that, from what I have been all season long — not really on my game.’’

In what was somewhat of a swan song to his career, Kentucky native Kenny Perry’s dream week ended — on his 54th birthday — with a final-round 3-under-par 68 to finish up at 6-under par for the week after the PGA of America had given him a special exemption into the field.
As an exclamation point, Perry birdied his final hole, No. 18.

“I thought that was pretty neat,’’ Perry said. “I hit the same drive I hit in the ’96 PGA [which he lost to Mark Brooks in a playoff] — dead left. I’m thinking that was the same shot that I hit on the 72nd hole. Then I had 215 [yards] and I hit the prettiest little 4-‑iron hybrid I’ve hit all week, hit it stoney. Could have used that 20-‑something years ago. That would have made my life a big game‑changer.’’

Asked if this week felt “like a door is closing’’ for him, he said, “I’m ready for it. Thirty years of trying to make 3-‑footers, I’m ready to do something else. It’s been great. I had my time, had my chance and my opportunities. It was awesome. I enjoyed every bit of the ride.

“I’m still going to play the Champions Tour some. I will still play competitively here and there. I’ve got two grandkids, another one coming in February, so a lot of things are changing in the Perry household.’’

After the downpour that left about an inch of new water on an already saturated course and suspended play for an hour and 50 minutes, the debate from players about whether they should have been allowed to play lift, clean and place to avoid mud balls, raged on.

Graeme McDowell said the course was “unplayable’’ in the morning, adding, “The ball should have been played up, simple.’’

“To me it’s fair out there if you can play the ball up,’’ he said. “It’s not fair if you can’t play the ball up. It’s casual water everywhere. The ball is picking up mud. Common sense has to prevail at some point. It was the wrong call playing the ball down, simple.’’

Ian Poulter said: “Should we have had been playing preferred lies? It is a wide-open question. But we’ve never played preferred lies in a major. So this is what you’re going to get.’’

The 2015 PGA Championship will be held Aug. 13-16 at Whistling Straits, where it’s been played twice with Vijay Singh winning in 2004 and Martin Kaymer in 2010 — both winning in three-hole, aggregate-score playoffs.